Margaret Mitchell House Land Sale Approved

So, speaking of the Atlanta History Center, they’ve approved the sale of a parcel adjacent to the Margaret Mitchell House for $7 million.

Oh, and it might be important to know that the Atlanta History Center owns the Margaret Mitchell House.

The piece of land in question is mostly a parking lot plus a small building that I think has a little office space and the Gone With the Wind movie memorabilia portion of the museum.

The Margaret Mitchell House sits on one of the most valuable pieces of property in Atlanta at the intersection of 10th and Peachtree. Right now that corner is totally underutilized given the development around it, the proximity to the Marta station, and the more or less uniform street grid.

It’s caused quite a stir. The article quotes Mary Rose Taylor, who was responsible for nursing the Margaret Mitchell House from very, very humble beginnings to an excellent and quite prosperous museum–

“If you sell that land you marginalize the Margaret Mitchell House.”

Obviously I do not know the entirety of the situation, but to me it sounds like an absolute no-brainer to sell your parking lot for $7 million. I wish I could sell my parking lot for $7 million. Heck, I’d throw in a few Uncle Remus books, too.

Assuming they can (a) secure parking for the MMH; (b) ensure that the development is very, very pedestrian friendly; and (c) score some office space out of the deal, my goodness, where is the argument? Is “change” the only controversy?

There must be something else going on.

Otherwise, a high-density pedestrian oriented development will do exactly the opposite of marginalizing the Margaret Mitchell House. The museum has the opportunity to become a jewel in the midst of a community (with excellent transit access, might I add), rather than a jewel in the midst of a sea of parking lots, as it was not too long ago.

Consider something like the Chicago Water Tower:

Marginalization, or part of a valuable part of the neighborhood?

Then again, this is just an outsider’s point of view–I’m sure there’s more going on than fear of change.